Mistakes Made in Vegas
by Tanith Tumultuous
Summary: Cath/Sara, when Hank is discovered to be a cheat, what will Sara discover? Will Cath come along for the journey?
1. Chapter 1: Saviour

Sara sat in Catherine's car- Moody, angry and upset. How could Hank do this to her?

Except, there was another feeling, deep down in the pit of her stomach, that she was trying to suffocate, to push down, to avoid. Something she really did not want to be feeling.

Panic.

"You got plans?" Catherine asked.

Sara took a deep inbreath.

"Nope."

"You wanna get beer?"

Sara thought for a second. Looked at Catherine. Looked away. "Drive." She said. She realised she was smiling. She didn't know why.

ooooooooooo

"Catherine?" She asked, eyes half closed, brain half drunk and half expecting Catherine to go back to being herself.

"Mhm?" The other woman mumbled, trying to drunk dial Hank with the number from Sara's phone.

"Why- why do you hate me? I've been wondering for years, but I can't figure it out. What did I do?" She asked, her voice slightly higher pitch and her sadness slightly tangible. Catherine could feel it in the air, taste it.

It stopped her dead in her tracks. She looked up, straight across the room. "Sara. I don't hate you. You made me feel threatened. Before you came I was the most attractive CSI we had, the cleverest woman. And then you came and I wasn't either of those things anymore."

"S'not true. You're clevererer and beautifuller than me. Don't be silly." Sara was getting drunker by the second, her head resting on the table right next to Catherine.

It was 3 pm, the bar was all mahogany tables and the smell of stale beer, and it was badly lit.

"You know my favourite thing about Vegas?" Catherine asked.

"Whassat?" Sara muttered.

Catherine pulled Sara up by her arm, grinning. Sara, for her part, tried to hang limply but failed, possibly in part to the fact that Catherine was a woman on a mission, and also because her excitement was tangible.

"Daytime clubbing"

As soon as the daytime air hit her, and the realisation that she was actually not as sad now as she'd have liked to be, Sara sobered up considerably. "Where are we going?"

Catherine grinned, looking at the girl she still had hold of, and spun her around so that they were facing one another.

"I'm gonna show you my past, honey." She seemed unaware of the fact that she was mere centimetres away from Sara, but the other woman was not so oblivious.

That feeling had made itself known again.

oooooooooooo

It's late when they get outside again. Sara's ears are buzzing and the world outside seems quiet. For Vegas, that's quite the triumph.

The last drink she had was hours ago, long enough that she could go into work in two hours. Still, she feels sick. The streetlights are too bright, and it's almost like she can feel the earth spinning on its axis.

Catherine's voice breaks through her haze.

"Hey, you got work tonight?"

Sara assumes she means scheduled. Of course she does, she'd think it downright crazy to listen out for crimes on a police scanner in her own home. If Sara told her that the lab was the only place that she felt safe, Catherine would think her insane.

"I'm... off. Are you in?"

Catherine shook her head no. She was almost glad that Sara's boyfriend had cheated on her. This was the most fun she'd had in years.

"Lindsey's at a sleepover, too. I'm headed for a pretty boring night, unless you want to come and watch a Disney film?" She laughed a self-deprecating laugh, and it was unusual. She was almost vulnerable, and Sara guessed she wasn't fully joking.

"Funnily enough, I was just going to ask if you had a copy of Mulan I could borrow. You know, for... science." Sara shrugged, hands still in her pockets, smiling a lopsided smile. "Lead the way, maestro"

Catherine smiled a lazy smile and tucked her hair behind her ear, and Sara was suddenly frozen. Her mouth was dry and the spinning sensation was back.

Sara was starting to question it, but the realisation would not come for her yet.

Let's give her three weeks.


	2. Chapter 2: The Beginning of the End

It was just another dead body, just another crime scene, that brought Sara hurtling back to reality.

It had been as if she'd been living the last three weeks in a haze. Almost like a dream, but not quite. Catherine had been friendly. Sara had been happy.

Everyone had noticed, but nobody had mentioned anything. The reality was they were the best two CSI's on the nightshift, and if they could work together, they could smash out so many solves that the day team looked bad by comparison.

In fact, in the last 3 weeks, the night shift had improved their solve rate by over 30%. Grissom had put down this success to the women working together, so that by the end of our three weeks of waiting, Catherine and Sara were together on every case. Every shift brought them closer together.

Grissom came in to the standard start of shift meeting 10 minutes early, only to find that Sara wasn't yet there. Unusual, since she'd usually be working overtime by at least 3 hours already, but lately it was becoming the norm for Sara to show up on time.

He noticed that Catherine wasn't there yet either, and made a mental note to watch the two closely in case another argument was to crop up. The calm before the storm. His instincts told him that this time the fallout would be nuclear. It would affect everyone.

He went over to pour himself a coffee when he heard the sound that seemed to be filling the lab every night shift these days. Laughter.

As the two women walked side by side into the break room, he caught the end of what must have been a hilarious anecdote, judging by the tears streaming down Sara's face.

"… And then she said 'Mommy, why is there a –Ha- pheasant in the bath?" Catherine said. Sara cracked up, doubled over with laughter. The women sat down.

"H-h-hi Griss. Catherine was just –ehe- filling me in on Lindsay's most recent sleepover." The two women fell about laughing, to a joke Grissom just didn't get. The boys looked over from their videogame.

"Okay. So. Assignments" Grissom was happy for the girls, but it seemed to him destined to fall to pieces before any solid, concrete friendship was to form. "Catherine, Sara, you guys are on a double homicide out in Summerlin, Coralite Drive. Mother and Father killed, daughter missing. I want you guys to solve this one tonight if at all possible. Warrick, Nick, you guys have a break in at 115 Jones Boulevard."

"Aww man, the girls get all the interesting ones." Nick complained, but only half-heartedly. He, like the rest of the team, were glad that Catherine and Sara weren't about to kill each other.

"Oh, Sara, Mandy from prints asked if you could stop by there before you start, says it's pretty urgent." Warrick chimed in.

"Oh. Do you mind?" Sara asked Catherine, who shook her head.

"Just meet me by the car in ten, okay?"

"Sweet, see you in a bit. Bye, boys." She said, before leaving the room. Catherine watched her leave, before turning to the boys, who all appeared to be staring at her. Again.

"What?" She asked.

The boys averted their eyes, mumbling.


	3. Chapter 3: An Evil Presented

"Mandy." Sara greeted, her voice void of any inclination. "You wanted me?"

"Oh. Hi, Sara. Yeah. Um, I know you guys have a busy night, so I'll make this quick. Sara, what the heck?" Mandy replied.

Sara looked up, down at her nails, back up and then straight into Mandy's eyes.

"Mands, I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. What's up?" Sara said, _almost_ completely baffled.

"You. Catherine. What's up with that. I know her. I sort of know you, not for lack of trying by the way, and this is _weird._"

Sara smiled, a gap-toothed grin, then smirked at the side of her mouth. "Is that why you called me, Mands? For gossip? Catherine and I are _friends._ I know it seems strange, but it works! I never thought it would, either, but it does."

Mandy shook her head, reaching up to tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear as she did so. "No, I don't think so. This seems more… Flirty. I'm getting a vibe."

"Mandy, not every female law enforcement character is a closet lesbian, you know." Sara leaned in to the other woman's ear. "_Even if you are_" she whispered.

As Sara drew back, grinning again, Mandy brought her hands up to her chest almost defensively. "Sara! I thought we agreed never to talk about this in the lab. Or ever again! _You promised_." She whispered, raising it almost to a panicked hiss as she ended her sentence.

Sara laughed. "Calm down, Mands. I'm not exactly shouting it from the rooftops. I believe I said 'Until you get annoying' when I made that promise anyways."

Mandy turned away, pretended to look at some paperwork. "Alright." She looked sidelong at Sara. "If you're sure you're just friends, you can go"

Mandy turned back to the paperwork and Sara began to leave.

"Oh, and Sara?" Mandy turned, lounging against the desk, a concerned look on her face. "Be careful, okay? Friendship, relationship, I don't care. Just don't get hurt, will you?"

Sara smiled, slightly sadly. "I won't Mands. See you around, yeah?"

"Sure thing." Mandy smiled back.

…

When Sara got to the car, Catherine was lounging against the door, smiling. "Sara." she said, "How nice of you to grace us with your presence." As Sara drew closer, she held out one arm, dangling the keys from her hand. "You can drive."

The drive out to Summerlin was uneventful, aside from one moment when Sara glanced at Catherine. It had appeared that the other woman had been staring at her, with the expression of trying to memorise something, but Sara just smiled and absorbed it. Their friendship was fresh out of the oven, after all, and sometimes it was strange for both of them.

As the women pulled up, Catherine pointed at a young police officer throwing up off the sidewalk.

"What's going on with him?" She asked, knowing all too well the answer. Sara looked over and grimaced.

"I think we better prepare ourselves for a tough scene."

…

Unexpectedly, the scene was easy to process, owed much to the lack of evidence. Catherine took the perimeter, while Sara processed the interior. After about half an hour, Sara came to the front door.

"Um, Cath? I think you'd better take a look at this."

Catherine took a look at Sara's wide eyes and pale skin and followed her inside.

"There's no blood anywhere" Sara started. "Except for-"

She opened the little girl's door.

"-Here."

Above the little girl's bed, the word 'Gretel' was painted on the pink wall.

In blood.

Catherine took a deep breath.

"If this is Gretel" She started, slowly. "Then, where is Hansel?"


	4. Chapter 4: Your Mood Makes Day Break

Ten hours passed and not much changed. The blood was DNA matched to the mom's toothbrush, which meant the girl could still be alive. The amber alert was out, and at least until Hansel was found, Catherine held on to a little hope.

They worked solidly through the day, and even though it was tough, they worked through the next night as well. At some point, though, Sara had called it.

"Cath. I'm as much for overworking as the next gal, but we're no good to this kid exhausted. We gotta get some sleep- we'll come back and we'll nail the guy."

Catherine grimaced. She knew Sara was right but something was bothering her.

"What if, you know, because Hansel and... Sara, what if she's still alive?"

There was no answer, but Sara put her hand over Catherine's and tucked her fingers in. She held it there for a second, comforting her, and then gently pulled.

"We'll be better once we've slept."

Sara drove and Catherine immediately fell asleep in the car. When Sara pulled up to Catherine's house, she couldn't wake the older woman. She checked for a pulse and found one, let her fingers rest there for a second. Felt her heartbeat sync with the other woman's, and sighed.

Sara got out of the car and opened the passenger door, and elected to carry the sleeping woman to bed-rather than try to wake her. She fished Cath's keys from her pocket and barely struggled with the door, but stumbled on the stairs. Catherine stirred and locked her hands around Sara's neck, murmuring.

"My princess charming" she snorted a laugh, her eyes still closed. Sara almost dropped her and ran, but instead elected to ignore the panic.

They made it to the bedroom, and Sara laid Catherine down on the bed. She did not tuck her in, because that would be ridiculous and weird.

_Where'd that come from?_ Sara shook her head and turned to leave.

"You might as well stay." Catherine was awake, and apparently unaware of the sleepy moment they'd had on the stairs. If not unaware, at least unembarrassed.

"I just mean, you're gonna have to pick me up anyway. My car is at the lab. And we're close enough to share a bed without it being weird."

Suddenly, Sara was too hot. She turned.

"I'm too hot." She said, her brain-to-mouth filter failing her.

Catherine's eyes were still closed, but she smirked.

"Borrow some pyjamas. Top drawer. Unless you sleep naked, hot stuff?"

Sara was glad that her friend's eyes were closed, because she had turned a violent shade of purple.


End file.
